29 April 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal
Basildon Council has signed a long-term contract with Morgan Sindall Property Services to maintain and repair the local authority’s housing stock and corporate buildings.
The £300 million-plus contract integrates all of Basildon Council’s major repair and maintenance services “to enable a more efficient, customer-focused service for residents and a single point of contact for the council”.
The new contract is expected to deliver “significant long-term savings for the authority with estimated savings of around £2 million per annum”.
The contract starts on 1 July 2016 and will continue for up to 15 years.
Under the terms of the contract, Morgan Sindall is to carry out repairs, maintenance and planned improvement works to the council’s housing stock as well as undertaking gas servicing, repairs and boiler renewals to 10,000 domestic gas heating systems.
Morgan Sindall will also carry out repairs and maintenance works to the council’s non-residential properties, including the Towngate Theatre, Basildon Centre and local community halls, under this contract.
In addition to providing improved services to residents, the council has placed a high emphasis on enabling employment opportunities for local people whilst ensuring the partnership with Morgan Sindall will continue to support the community by providing sustainable legacy projects.
One such project is the creation of a social enterprise that will help deliver external redecorations and estate improvement works. The social enterprise will work in conjunction with local college PROCAT and Jobcentre Plus to target long-term unemployed residents and help recruit the right trainees, who will be trained and mentored by Morgan Sindall engineers and staff.
The social enterprise will be a not-for-profit organisation and any surplus will be reinvested back into the business or the local community.
The contract will also provide up to 30 apprenticeship opportunities at any one time and work to improve employability by offering CV writing courses and interview training through local workshops.
“The length of this contract will not only enable us to provide long-term employment opportunities for local people, but also ensure we continue to develop new and smarter ways of delivering our services. We look forward to working with Basildon Council and its residents over the next 15 years.”
